I missed the first 15 minutes of David Lee Hoffman in All In This Tea
on the movie channels last night. I know he was the subject of the
documentary so we see it from the directors POV. My impression of
Hoffman was an arrogant sob trying to get the Chinese to do business
his way, eliminate the middle man, in this case the factory and local
government taxes. There was a disingenuous moment in the documentary
where he makes a snide comment he finally made a perfect cup of tea
after 20 years. I'm not sure I could enjoy a cup of tea with the guy
especially after trying to bamboozle me with some silly gongfu
performance which permeates the whole documentary. I feel better
now. No I dont. All the extras in this documentary comes across as
snobs except the Chinese who are just plain dumb shits when it comes
to tea like using pesticides when they could use worm poop. I assume
that was James Norwood Pratt dressed and acting like an evangelical
preacher. To me the movie was a visual feast of tea processing from
bush to export sack. Now I understand what drying, bruising and
rolling really mean. I did learn tea was more unhygienic than I ever
thought. Im not convinced by Hoffmans assertion that oolong is the
pinnacle of Chinese tea processing while at least a quarter of his act
shows him tracking down Puer and storing it in his cave in California
which is the Chinese equivalent of a housing crisis created by
characters like him (there I go again). They showed a tea competition
in Anxi (you learn how gaiwans are used for tea tasting) where the
winner sold a pound of oolong he made for $20,000 and ended up having
to protect his fields from looting for seeds and cuttings. The
documentary makes the point dont drink tea for health reasons but goes
on and on about the nutrients in tea which is why 10 day old bud is so
desirable. You would think old leaf had more nutrients. The
documentary makes the claim Hoffman opened up doors for the western
consumer but I'm not sure. It was also pointed out there are now
farmers markets for tea where you can add your DNA by thrusting your
hands in sacks of tea and almost rubbing your nose with the leaf just
like Hoffman (one last dig). I'll give it to Hoffman he knows what he
likes about tea so I can sympathize and what does that say about my
character.

Jim

PS Does the odd title have any significance Im missing. Okay, okay,
okay I didnt hear Hoffman use one basic Chinese greeting.